A tracheal tube is typically a catheter that is inserted into the trachea for the purpose of providing an airway for a patient. An endotracheal tube is a specific type of tracheal tube that is inserted through the mouth (orotracheal) or nose (nasotracheal). Such endotracheal tubes are in contrast to a tracheostomy tube, which is inserted into a tracheostoma following a tracheostomy procedure, and a tracheal button, which may also be inserted into a puncture through the paratracheal skin into the trachea.
An endotracheal tube may be cuffed or uncuffed. Cuffed endotracheal tubes include a cuff that can be inflated to minimize the passage of secretions from the upper respiratory tract downward into the lungs of a patient. One problem with cuffed endotracheal tubes is the pooling of saliva and other secretions around the inflated cuff and the potential for such secretions to leak past the cuff and into the lungs.
The following are of interest: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,598,283; 2,892,458; 3,688,774; 3,996,939; 4,211,234; 4,223,411; 4,280,492; 4,304,228; 4,305,392; 4,315,505; 4,327,721; 4,449,523; 4,459,984; 4,469,100; 4,573,460; 4,584,998; 4,589,410; 4,596,248; 4,607,635; 4,627,433; 4,632,108; 4,637,389; 4,762,125; 4,834,087; 4,840,173; 4,852,565; 5,056,515; 5,067,497; 5,107,828; 5,123,922; 5,201,310; 5,217,008; 5,218,970; 5,255,676; 5,297,546; 5,329,921; 5,339,808; 5,343,857; 5,349,950; 5,391,205; 5,392,775; 5,458,139; 5,497,768; 5,507,279; 5,515,844; 5,584,288; 5,599,333; RE35,595; 5,687,767; 5,688,256; 5,746,199; 5,771,888; 5,957,978; 6,053,167; 6,089,225; 6,102,038; 6,105,577; 6,135,110; 6,135,111; 6,463,927; 6,722,367; 6,814,007; 7,404,329; U.S. patent publications: 2003/0084905; 2004/0123868; foreign/international patent publications: DE 25 05 123; DE 34 06 294; DE 37 20 482; DE 38 13 705; DE 195 13 831; DE 101 09 935; WO 99/07428; WO 99/12599; WO 00/32262; other publications: Quick Reference Guide to Shiley's “Quality-Of Life” Line of Tracheostomy Products, 1991; Granuloma Associated with Fenestrated Tracheostomy Tubes, Padmanabhan Siddharth, MD, PhD, FACS and Lawrence Mazzarella, MD, FACS, Case Reports, vol. 150, August 1985, pp. 279-280; Technical Support Information Connections with the Passy-Muir Tracheostomy and Ventilator Speaking Valves, one sheet; Tracheostomy and Laryngectomy Tubes, pp. 568 and 572; Tracheostomy Tube Adult Home Care Guide, Shiley Tracheostomy Products, Mallinckrodt Medical pp. 1-40; D. Hessler, MD, K. Rehder, MD and S. W. Karveth, MD, “Tracheostomy Cannula for Speaking During Artificial Respiration”, Anesthesiology, vol. 25, No. 5, pp. 719-721 (1964). No representation is intended by this listing that a thorough search of all material prior art has been conducted, or that no better art than that listed is available. Nor should any such representation be inferred. The disclosures of all of the above are hereby incorporated herein by reference.